Bulletproof vests are sometimes all that stands between a police officer and death.  Having just come from this year’s Blue Mass, I am more determined than ever to get effective vests to officers who need them.

~Attorney General Jeff Sessions

On May 2, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Department of Justice will return more than $11 million from a settlement with Toyobo Co. Ltd. and Toyobo America, Inc. (collectively Toyobo), companies that produced the fiber used in bulletproof vests that the department alleged were defective, to help purchase approximately 18,700 additional bullet-resistant vests for law enforcement officers through the Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) Program.

The BVP Program, administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), protects the lives of law enforcement officers by helping state, local, and tribal governments equip their law enforcement officers with bullet-resistant vests. Since 1999, more than 13,100 jurisdictions have participated in the BVP Program, with more than $447.7 million in federal funds used to support the purchase of more than 1,294,000 vests.

BVP funding covers 50 percent of total vest costs for rural law enforcement agencies with community populations of fewer than 100,000 residents. For larger jurisdictions, the program provides up to 50 percent of funding, depending on the annual appropriation from Congress and the amount of funds requested by the rural jurisdictions that apply..

The SAKI Toolkit and Virtual Academy are essential resources for prosecutors, victim advocates, law enforcement, and other key stakeholders.  These tools can help multidisciplinary teams inventory and track sexual assault kits, investigate and prosecute sexual assaults, and provide trauma-informed services to sexual assault survivors.

~Rebecca Campbell, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Michigan State University

With the launch of a new Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Online Toolkit and training site, the SAKI Virtual Academy provides free, easily downloadable tools that supply much-needed resources to the nation's law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to help investigators, prosecutors, and victim advocates close out cases and bring answers to survivors.

Funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative aims to create a coordinated community response that ensures just resolution to sexual assault cases. Through this program, funding is provided to support multidisciplinary community response teams engaged in the comprehensive reform of jurisdictions’ approaches to sexual assault cases resulting from evidence found in previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits.

The SAKI Toolkit can be downloaded as prepackaged sets or customized to the needs of users.

Today we are facing the worst drug crisis in American history, with one American dying of a drug overdose every nine minutes. An unprecedented crisis like this one demands an unprecedented response—and that's why President Trump has made this issue a priority for this administration. DEA's National Drug Take Back Days are important opportunities for people to turn in unwanted and potentially addictive drugs with no questions asked.

~Attorney General Jeff Sessions

Leveraging close to 6,000 sites across the country on April 28, 2018, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) collected and destroyed close to 1 million pounds—nearly 475 tons—of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs, making it the most successful event in DEA history.  The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day events continue to remove ever-higher amounts of opioids and other medicines from the nation’s homes, where they could be stolen and abused by family members and visitors, including children and teens.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Helping people dispose of potentially harmful prescription drugs is just one way DEA is working to reduce the addiction and overdose deaths plaguing this country because of opioid medications.

DEA’s next Prescription Drug Take Back Day is October 27, 2018.

Law enforcement agencies across the United States and throughout the world are using body-worn cameras (BWCs) as a promising tool to improve evidentiary outcomes, enhancing the safety of and improving interactions between officers and the public. The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has announced a competitive solicitation for law enforcement agencies to pilot, establish, or enhance BWC policy and implementation programs (PIP). The FY 2018 BWC PIP will support the implementation of body-worn camera programs in law enforcement agencies across the country.

NOTE: The BWC Solicitation Category 2 was amended to ensure agencies of all sizes could apply.  This category was amended to include SMALL AND MID-SIZED with 250 or less sworn officers.

Solicitation Deadline:  May 31

In this webinar, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) leaders will review the FY 2018 COAP grant application process. This site-based grant program provides awards ranging from $100,000 to $1,500,000 for a 24- to 36-month project period to deliver financial and technical assistance to states, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments to plan, develop, and implement comprehensive efforts to identify, respond to, treat, and support those impacted by the opioid epidemic. 

Webinar Date:   Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Time:  1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., ET

There are six grant categories:

Category 1:  First Responder Partnerships—Funding amount:  $500,000—$800,000

Category 2: Technology-Assisted Treatment Projects—Funding amount: $1,000,000

Category 3:  System-Level Diversion Projects—Funding amount: $900,000

Category 4:  Statewide Planning, Coordination, and Implementation Projects—Funding amount: $100,000—$1,300,000

Category 5:  Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) Implementation and Enhancement Projects—Funding amount:  $750,000

Category 6:  Public Safety, Behavioral Health, and Public Health Information Sharing Partnerships—Funding amount: $1,000,000—$1,500,000

BJA anticipates making more than 160 grant awards.

Applications Due: June 7, 2018